Thursday, October 21, 2010

This is my favorite recipe for New York style cheesecake, and includes a great technique for letting the citrus-kissed cake finish in the oven, so that no crack forms when cool. As you'll hear and see in the video, this isn't always the case.

It's ironic that the largest, deepest, most jagged cheesecake crack I've ever experienced would occur on the one I'm filming for a video recipe. I've seen this method used to produce completely crack-free cheesecakes, but I was opening the oven to take photos, and ended up adding more time at the end to compensate, and apparently, from the look of the grand canyon-sized crack, it was a bit too long.According to my sources deep inside the cheesecake underground, if for whatever reason, the internal temperature goes above 160 degrees F. the cake will crack when cooling. The good news is the taste and texture was absolutely perfect. The moral of the story? Don't be afraid to make cheesecake!Cheesecake purists believe "crack is whack," but truth be told, slightly overcooking this recipe is not a big problem, and the crevice causes no issues when you serve it (as you'll see with some state-of-the-art Photoshop effects).

Crack or no crack, this is a classic, dense, rich New York style cheesecake with just a hint of citrus, hence the "sunshine" in the title. I paired it with a lovely fresh strawberry sauce, which had a little dash of balsamic vinegar in it. I also filmed that, and will air it soon. With the holiday entertaining season rapidly approaching, keep this super easy cheesecake recipe in mind. Enjoy!

Looks fantastic. I will try very soon. Maybe you could do pecan pie someday. I made one recently and though I cooked it longer than suggested and it looked done the darn thing was a soupy mess in the middle. I told my guests it was a molten pecan pie. They were kind, but I don't think they bought it. Darn that Martha. I like Chef John cause his recipes actually work.

So the water bath is for the browning? But I am guessing the browning gives it some extra flavour? Alton Brown had a complicated but sure-to-work method - but yours seem to work too haha, guess I'll go for the easy one first!

No, but in my country cracker packaging is different than in the US, so just an estimate amount (cups, ounces, grams) from your side will do and than I'll take it from there (using proven trial-and-error method).

Great video...cheesecake is my favorite dessert. i usually make a dulce de leche sauce to drizzle over the top of mine and it's always a hit. It does take quite a while but the efforts are well worth the 3-4 hour cooking time and you can multitask, cooking both simultaneously.

"He had no arms or legs, he couldn't see, hear or speak. This is how he led a nation." - Michael Scott

Thank you, Chef John! Love the golden result you achieved with the baking sheet method instead of the water bath. Will try this tomorrow but with Keebler vanilla wafers (don't like the taste of graham crackers). I think a vanilla crust deepens the vanilla taste. Instead of fruit (okay, a few fresh raspberries on the side), I make a sour cream topping with just a little sugar over the top the last 7 minutes or until set.

Chef John, I've tried several of your recipies - the rolls and boston cream pie - and now this cheesecake. What I'm wondering is if you've ever heard of a "Kentucky pie" or Kentucky Derby Pie? I'd like to see your take on this. I've tried some that call for alcohol in the recipies and some without but I still can't seem to get it right. Think we can see what your take on this would be? Please post one if you have one!! Love this site and check it everyday

I always pull my cheesecakes out of the oven at 150F. On the rare occasion I get a crack, I cover it with uber yummy sour cream topping and pop it back in the oven for 5 minutes to set the sour cream. Sometimes I add the topping just because it's so darn yummy, crack or not.

made ours today..huge cross shaped crack, right in the center... made for easier cutting. tried it while it was still warm.. Mistake!! chilled it in the fridge....most awesome flavor and texture. not as dense as store bought but every bit as tasty as it should be!

Oh that looks so yummy. I'm from Brazil so I can't find all of the ingredients needed but I can find some great replacements for them that are available here. I can't wait to try this, I love cheesecake.Thanks for the recipe.=)

Just made this for a dinner party & love the texture & the addition of the orange zest, which adds something extra. I like cheesecake plain, but my guests went for the strawberry sauce. Also, as you suggested, served the cauliflower mash with the black pepper crusted black cherry tenderloin--perfect for autumn!

So I tried out your recipe! It was delicious. AS for cream cheese I used mascaprone and thefore the texture was very cream. Excelent recipe! Thanks!: )Some pics:http://www.flickr.com/photos/hausmeister/5137729210/

Hi chef,I have made it today and served it with the lemon curd just an unbelievable taste!Thanks for make it so easy for us chef john !here is the pic ;) http://www.flickr.com/photos/drkari/5144456586/

I like to add cinnamon powder into the graham cracker crumb crust. Just an input. =D This recipe is awesome. Unfortunately, I ended up with a crack too, but no one noticed with the strawberry sauce distracting them. =D

Chef John can you tell me why my cheesecake looks like burnt cheesecake is it because I put my cheesecake near to the top of the oven but anyway it was delicious everyone in my house finish the whole cake within 15 mins thanks chef hope you keep up the good work by the way dido you use large eggs?

I have a tough time getting lumps out of my batter. Is there any way to fix this? I let my cream cheese sit out for a good 3 hours to make sure it got to room temperature, if that makes any difference.

Thank you, Chef John, for 6940 calories of cheesecake goodness. Mine cracked a little bit because I pulled it out of the oven too early, but since I was cutting it up to bring it to work, nobody did/will notice.

I'm no photographer, but here it is. I used a larger springform pan for transport, which is why it looks out of scale:http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=574695&id=589540149&l=f540f95866

Excellent recipe! Just made this today and it turned out great, except for a small crack. I think the crack is due to me using a 10.5" pan instead of a 9". I wanted it to be thinner, but I should've adjusted the cooking time a bit because of that.

Anyway, people seem to be posting pictures, so here's mine:http://img21.imageshack.us/img21/7586/dscf01041.jpg

Why people complain about the crack is a mystery, I see it as one of those beautiful natural things that can happen to food. It looks so homemade and fresh, and even more gourmet when it is ragged and imperfect.

I wish you had put the baking time together with the ingredients. I saw this video a while ago, I just needed the ingredients and baking time, but here I am waiting for the end of the video with my awful connection speed...

I have a few variations of this exact cake! instead of using graham crackers for the crust, try par-baking a fudge brownie in the bottom of the spring form, and using that as your crust! Chocolate chip cookie dough makes for another excellent crust :)

This recipe really truly is the best cheesecake I have ever had.. and ive eaten ALOT of cheesecake :)

Dear uncle John, i want to make an oreo cheesecake and planning to follow this recipe (it's hard to trust any other online recipes after watching yours! :D). What are the changes that should be made other than subtituting the graham crackers with oreo? Btw, thanks alot for your recipes and easy-to-follow videos! I love themSorry for the broken engrish ;)Thea

I have a thin thermometer I usually use for meat. Could I use stick it in the cheesecake at the beginning of the baking process to make sure it doesn't reach 160 ºF or would a thermometer sticking in it crack the whole thing?

FYI, this is what I havehttp://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002U1RNIO/ref=pd_lpo_k2_dp_sr_1?pf_rd_p=1278548962&pf_rd_s=lpo-top-stripe-1&pf_rd_t=201&pf_rd_i=B001CDK0LS&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=0SCTWDZMYNJJ8GY0P5B6

i'm trying this as we speak and im making it for a arty im so excited to see how this will taste with the sauce and everything i hope to try more delicious recipes from your site in the future, keep on making delicious food !

My 10 year old daughter and I made this cheesecake last night. She did 90% or more of the work. I helped with some techniques but she was able to follow your video pretty well. The result is amazing. Perfect cheesecake. The slight citrus tang is A+.

Dear chef ..I really want to make the cheesecake oreo version. And the reason I chose to ask you is because your videos are unbelieveable and so easy to follow. And I got really confused with all the recipies because i'm 11 .. so can you help me out ??Thanks btw ..

Hey Chef! This is a wonderful recipe that I love and share, as well as your site and videos. I've made this cheesecake twice, and it was delicious both times. However, I've had some pretty monstrous cracks both times. The first I think the temp was too high for my dark spring form; I've heard that the temp varies for light vs. dark. True? This time, I was nervous and the door a couple of times to check on it. Will this cause it to crack?

I've just tried your recipe today and I love it. The texture is wonderful. But the top of the cake is brown as described by eva but mine doesn't taste burnt. My cake doesn't have a crack because I put a small pan of water under the rack (not water bath method).

I've wanted to bake my own cheese cake at home for long time ago but i'm not dare to do so because I thought it was hard. After I watched your video, I find that it was very easy and simple. Thank you Chef for your recipe.

Dear. Chef John my name is carman, and i just adore your cheesecake recipe! i make it for my family/ friends all the time, but i was wondering if you can help me out with a little problem. you see my mom loves the cheesecake but when she eats cheesecake, she doesnt eat the crust, she likes it when its soft i guess. so i was wondering if u can possibly give me a little tip on how to make it softer and possibly a little sweet, not tooo sweet! but you know, nice flavor i guess :Dsincerly, your fan! p.s i really so love ur cheesecake, its just my mother is picky, uhhh mothers :D

dear chef john, I've been planning to make a cheesecake and i've looked through wiki and found out that cheesecake can be make using heavy cream as well..So can i substitute the milk for the heavy cream in this recipe? will it affects the final result? Thanks

Hi chef John..I want to make this recipe but I only have an 8 inch pan..I did not remember whether it is 8 or 8 1/2 but..basically...Can I still make this recipe if I do not have a 9 inch pan? will the baking time be the same or just slightly longer since the cake will be slightly taller..? or I have to go and buy a new pan .. which is 9 inch..to make this recipe? Thank you..

hi chef john!i was wondering since i only have graham cracker CRUMBS how much would the 18 graham crackers be? also. when you cool it. do i leave it in the oven to cool for 3-4 hours or can i put it in the fridge?

Not sure, but it's not an exact science. Just use a few cups and when you add the butter and pack it in you'll see if its enough. Leave it in the oven until cooled to room temp then you can chill. enjoy!

I always eat cheesecake when I visit the US. But I never thought it was so easy to make! Last week I made this cheesecake and it tasted sooo good!! It also had a crack in it, but the crack looked like a chinese letter so I liked it. ;-D

Hi chef John! I'm a viewer from Portugal and I don't think we have sour cream in our stores, at least in most of them or maybe I don't know how is it called in Portuguese (:P)... Is it ok to replace it by plain yogurt? Love all your videos! Thanks!

Hi Chef! After some investigation I managed to find out what is sour cream in Portuguese! If someone asks you can tell them it's "natas ácidas"! I really have some trouble with this kind of ingredients, and through my investigation I found out that I'm not alone in that. But my biggest challenge to the day it's buttermilk. I keep replacing it with some milk and vinegar. So will do my best now that I've discovered all the ingredients! Thank you Chef!! =D

Just to tell you I got praised on the stuffed peppers the other day. So thank you Chef. You know we've just elected the seven wonders of Portuguese gastronomy (yeah we love food that much...). If you ever visit our country give them a try. They're really good!! Best wishes for you and your family!

Hi Chef John,Thank you for the recipe and most importantly the video. I attempted to bake a cheesecake for the very first time two days ago. I used a 8" cake tin because i did not have 9" on hand. The batter was alot and i still had a little leftover batter. Thankfully the cake did not crack and we love the fragrance it emits. I have two questions to ask you.1. The baked cheesecake texture did not felt smooth. Do you know how can I improve to achieve a smooth cheese texture when we eat it?2. What can I use the little leftover cheesecake batter for? I threw mine away :( as I hadn't any idea what else can I do with it.Thank you.Lynn (sg)

Hi Chef John, this recipe looks great and I would love to make it but I only have an 11 inch spring foam pan. Do I bake it for less time or bake it for the same amount of time but scale the recipe up by 50% to account for the larger surface area of my pan (so that the cheesecake thickness is correct). Thanks in advance for your input.

I've tried this recipe twice, and for some reason 1hr of baking time doesn't seem enough for mine, even at 350F. After an hour, the majority of the cake is still raw. I have to leave it in for almost an extra hour. Any suggestions as to why this happens?

Both cracked as well, but I'm more concerned with why it takes so long.

I've just made this Cheesecake, and it was "piece of cake" to make, get it?It has just finished the first 1 hour cooking process and so far, no cracks (just a liiittle dark around the etches)!!Hopefully it won't crack during the 4-5 hours "after cooking".In addition to my Cheesecake, I've also made the Strawberry Sauce (tastes awesome!).All in all, thanks for the awesome recipes and wish me luck for the next 4-5 hours!! :D

Hey Chef greetings from Utah, I like the Gram Cracker crust but what I did to make it better was instead of gram crack I used Biscoff Cookie instead. It was so awesome, people actually cried...CRIED! Give it a try next time.

Hey chef John I am from Greece and it is extremely difficult to find sour cream, so I found several recipes with heavy cream, not sure if I say it correct in English, the kind of cream that we make carbonara with. Do you know if it can be used or anyway how I can make homemade sour cream? Thanks a lot! I just can't wait to taste this cheesecake...

Hey chef John I am from Greece and it is extremely difficult to find sour cream, so I found several recipes with heavy cream, not sure if I say it correct in English, the kind of cream that we make carbonara with. Do you know if it can be used or anyway how I can make homemade sour cream? Thanks a lot! I just can't wait to taste this cheesecake...

Al right Chef, i made the recipe and almost everything came out GREAT!!! My daughter, a NY Cheese Cake expert (We sent her to School in NY ... a decided mistake)Tells me that it was perfect, even the sour cream topping was perfect. (her words not mine, I just thought it was good to eat) My difficulties were the crust turned out hard, almost use a knife hard, and i developed a huge crater almost all the way around the cake. But! when i uncovered it after it had cooled no crater just a crack that was barely visible. When I served it I quickly cut it and covered all the plates with a Black Raspberry sauce to hide it only you and I and now of course 100,000 other readers know about it.

I'm in Edmonton Alberta and I love your site. I've made your cheesecake numerous times with rave reviews (one said it was the best cheesecake he's ever had).

However, my cheesecake always cracks. I found the only way to prevent this is to take it out of the oven and let it cool at room temperature. I tried just cooling it in the microwave (powered off) but that also cracked. Maybe it's the altitude. :(

Anyways, I just thought I'd share. Thanks for all your recipes and videos. My friend gets giddy every time she hears your soothing voice or jazzy music.

Thanks for this video man. My only other experience in baking was a dry banana cake I made like 10 years ago, but your video let me make two delicious cheese cakes. First one cracked due to overcooking, but the second one I made for my sister's birthday yesterday turned out perfect.

First one cracked because a nameless family member kept opening the door, stuck a chopstick in it to test for doneness, and told me to 'cook it more' which I mistakenly listened to. Let that be a lesson for all.

Other potential tip (because I only read it somewhere else), take the cake out of the oven for a brief moment after the first hour and run a knife around the edges and then put it back into the cooling oven. It should allow the cake to contract easier while cooling. This might be a good idea if your oven is older and less consistent in its heating/insulation.

As for lumpy mix, my second cake filling was lumpy, but it turned out creamy anyway. Lumpiness could be attributed to your cream cheese not being warm enough or the flour. Microwave the cheese for 30secs out of the fridge/store or squeeze the mix with the sugar with your hand (disposable glove). Lumpiness doesn't seem to effect the final result.

Easy recipe and works just fine for my 10 3/4" springform (Used 1kg/35oz of cheese, and slightly increased every other ingredient except eggs). Used a lot more crackers though. Unsalted butter is best.

Hi! I made this yesterday and let me tell you that it was perfect! It looks Just like yours, even cracked in the same place but I didn't mind because texture is awesome and taste is great! I was so good that I went to bed at 3am because I decided to make two more. Lol thanks a lot for such great recipes!

Hi! I made this yesterday and let me tell you that it was perfect! It looks Just like yours, even cracked in the same place but I didn't mind because texture is awesome and taste is great! I was so good that I went to bed at 3am because I decided to make two more. Lol thanks a lot for such great recipes!

I made the filling and and used a cupcake pan I put the grahanm crackers in each muffin paper pressed it down and poured the filling in and baked at325 until done . I used blueberry and cherry pie filling. It made 40 cupcake cheesecakes and I took them to work. I got rave reviews

I made the filling and and used a cupcake pan I put the grahanm crackers in each muffin paper pressed it down and poured the filling in and baked at325 until done . I used blueberry and cherry pie filling. It made 40 cupcake cheesecakes and I took them to work. I got rave reviews

Tried the recipe this weekend and it was a hit! However, because we could not get the Philadelphia cream cheese blocks, all we could find was the kind in the tubs at Costco. The cake was wonderful, but it still had a wee bit of a custardy taste and it wasn't as firm-n-flaky as we would have desired, but you could still stand it up with a fork. Did we get a crack, YES! But no one cared because it was so delicious. I thnk that we will be a little more mindful of the internal temperature next time. Question - Would a water bath work too?

Ok, so are you saying that once the internal temperature has been reached, it's time to shut it down, correct? Thanks for your quick response and I greatly appreciate your blog and your passion to teach...:-)

i've made this cake a few times and it was always sooo tasty! thanks so much! now my question is: i want to make kind of a top level for the cake. the strawberry sauce should be on top but then it has to be thick, right? can i do that with gelatin or something else? hope you get my question ;)

Hi Kathrin. Great question. Chef John is away on a well deserved vacation and I am answering questions for him meanwhile. Strawberry sauce and cheesecake go perfectly together. And you are right, if you want the strawberry sauce to be on the top of the cake and to stay there, it needs to be thickened. I would recommend thickening the sauce with the slurry - a combination of cornstarch and water. Enjoy!

I just made this this morning and I peeked into the oven and it has a small crack. :-( I did not open the oven I just turned on the internal light. When I put the cake in the oven there were a couple of batter "ribbons" on the top, it was not totally smooth. Is it possible those caused a crack? It almost looks like it cracked along them. Just curious so next time I need to smooth the batter out.

Hi Chef I made the cheesecake today, cooked it for an hour on gas mark 4 and thought it was cooked, left it in the oven to cool and put it in the fridge. I've just cut it and found the outer part is cooked but most of the inside is quite loose and I think uncooked. Can I put it back in the oven, bin it or eat it anyway? Thanks

Aah, what a nice cheesecake. Thank you so much! Mine cracked in the EXACT same pattern as yours, Chef John, and I'm suspecting that you've somehow slipped the blueprint of the crack into the recipe...

I finally came across some Australian made cream cheese here in Ulaanbaatar, and decided to go ahead and try making a cheese cake (despite its exorbitant price). I've seen a friend make a delicious one with the Russian "Slivochniy" variety before, but wasn't brave enough to try so myself. Next time, I think I will use the Mongolian "zoohii" of the thick and raw variety from Arkhangai...For sour cream, I used Mongolian "tsotsgii", and it worked out perfectly. I skipped the citrus zests due to the unavailability of trustworthy pesticide free specimens, but I don't think it mattered too much. We couldn't wait for it to cool down completely, so I took it out of the oven at 2 hours past the switch-off, and half the cake is now gone.

Oh, by the way, for those of us who are in the Second world, and have limited access to Graham crackers: The "Teplyonoye Moloko" biscuits from the Russian brand Lyubyatovo worked out fine for me. These biscuits are 50 times tastier than Graham's to begin with, so you can imagine how good the bottom turns out!

Hí chef John, Im "cooking" this "as we speak" for my birthday. The cake is not out of the oven yet, but whatever happens... thank you for the recipe. (I had some raspberries so I'm making the sauce with those).

I didn't have a big cooking pan like yours, I just had 2 small square silicone baking pans. I just split the crumbs and batter between the two and made two small ones! I didn't leave them in for one hour though! I left them in for 35 minutes each. No cracks! as soon as the 35 minutes were up, I took them out of the oven and let them cool right away, no cracks appeared at all! mayyyybe less time = no cracks? and not leaving it in the oven to "cool" maybe I just got lucky! :D Thanks so much for the recipe Chef John! I also made the strawberry cheesecake sauce of yours! O-mazing.

I didn't have a big cooking pan like yours, I just had 2 small square silicone baking pans. I just split the crumbs and batter between the two and made two small ones! I didn't leave them in for one hour though! I left them in for 35 minutes each. No cracks! as soon as the 35 minutes were up, I took them out of the oven and let them cool right away, no cracks appeared at all! mayyyybe less time = no cracks? and not leaving it in the oven to "cool" maybe I just got lucky! :D Thanks so much for the recipe Chef John! I also made the strawberry cheesecake sauce of yours! O-mazing.

Tried this recipe this last weekend. Substituted Graham cracker biscuit for a shredded wheat biscuit here in Australia and it seemed to work pretty well. This is the best cheesecake I have ever tasted!! I followed your recipe to the letter and it was amazing. No cracks :-) Just a question if you get to it, do you use a fan forced oven? I adapted slightly by using a classic bake setting, (no fan) and after about 40 mins switched the fan bake setting on for about 10-15 minutes so the top would brown. It worked perfectly!!! Thank you !!!

So many people say their NY cheesecake cracks, but it's so easy to prevent by using a water bath. I know, it's an extra step, yet it's really very simple. You'll never get a crack or a hard dark crust again. I don't use a springform pan either; just a 9" cake pan that's 3" deep, with straight sides. Give it a good greasing with shortening and flour and toss a parchment circle on the bottom of the pan. After the Graham Cracker (or Oreo Cookie or Ginger Snap or whatever stricks my fancy) crust and batter are in the pan, I place it in my roasting pan, put the whole thing in the heated oven and pour in boiling water till it reaches half way up the outside of the cake pan. It bakes for an hour, I turn the oven off and just forget about it for 5-6 hours. It doesn't overbake because the temperature of the water never goes above 212 degrees. When it's cool, it goes in the fridge till next day. To get the cheesecake out of the pan, I place it in hot tap water for about 10 seconds to get it slightly warm.

I've been making Chantal's Cheesecake for years and never had any problems.